Advances in Nutrition: An International Review Journal
Loughrey DG, et al.

This investigation contemplated the effect of the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) on the cognitive functioning of healthy older adults. The strongest evidence yielded was indicative of a beneficial effect of the MeDi on the global cognition of older adults. The effect of study design and components of the MeDi on cognitive function was brought to light in this study. It also involved a discussion of the possible mechanisms.

Methods

• The recruitment comprised of fifteen cohort studies with 41,492 candidates and 2 RCTs with 309 and 162 participants in intervention and control groups, respectively.
• The primary outcome of interest was cognitive function, divided into domains of memory and executive function.

Results

• Meta-analysis of cohort studies exhibited a prominent correlation between MeDi and older adults’ episodic memory (n = 25,369, r = 0.01, P = 0.03) and global cognition (n = 41,492, r = 0.05, P ≤ 0.001), but not working memory (n = 1487, r = 0.007, P = 0.93) or semantic memory (n = 1487, r = 0.08, P = 0.28).
• Meta-analysis of RCTs brought to light the finding that compared with controls, the MeDi improved delayed recall (n = 429, P = 0.01), working memory (n = 566, P = 0.03), and global cognition (n = 429, P = 0.047), but not episodic memory (n = 566, P = 0.15), immediate recall (n = 566, P = 0.17), paired associates (n = 429, P = 0.20), attention (n = 566, P = 0.69), processing speed (n = 566, P = 0.35), or verbal fluency (n = 566, P = 0.12).

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Journal Abstract